The last thing Nell Forrest expected when she tried to plant a tree was to unearth the skeletal remains of a former resident. Now her new backyard is swarming with police, there's a television news crew camped next door, and once again she is smack in the middle of a murder investigation. And the timing is dreadful. Two of Nell's daughters are about to give birth and she is surrounded by new in-laws with agendas of their own.

Book Review:

It will not come as any surprise to readers of the Nell Forrest series that she's found another body. In a small town like Majic there's an astonishingly high murder rate, even though this unfortunate victim seems to have been in Forrest's backyard for a very long time. About the time that her estranged father disappeared in fact – make of that coincidence what you will. Goodness knows Forrest's going to.

If there is such a thing as a preferable time to find a skeleton buried in your backyard, now is definitely not it for Forrest. She's finally moved into her new home (she's redone the butcher shop that had been her father's); she's also dealing with her ex-husband's return to town, along with new partner and baby daughter. Two of her own daughter's are about to give birth – one with a difficult decision which seems made from the outset and her own new relationship appears to be teetering somewhere a little too close to rocks.

So situation normal as far as Nell Forrest and the town of Majic are concerned.

Needless to say there's a level of lunacy about these stories which may (or may not) connect with the reader. Somehow, for this reader, the lunacy works. Perhaps it's because of Forrest's level of self-awareness. She's really under no illusions that her life is normal, that what happens around her is par for the course, and that she's in anyway even slightly in control most of the time. Once in a while she might draw breath and have a red hot go at a bit of order in the chaos but it just never seems to last. In this outing, there's also the added poignancy of the return of her father who deserted the family when Nell and her sister were very small.

His return to the fold is complicated by the discovery of the body with it's connections in time to him; with the ups and downs of Nell's daughter's lives; and with some startling revelations about the past in Majic. The discovery that not only did your parents have a sex life (which we all know we'd often prefer to deny) but that the sex life might have been a bit more risky than anybody ever wants to hear about a parent is a surprising development. Even when it goes a bit of the way to explain some of the complications of her own mother's love life.

All of this topped up by a street renaming that has everyone laughing about Nell Forrest Close being a warning, and a lot of amateur sleuthing along with a very personal threat and there's quite a lot to FORBIDDEN FRUIT.

Delivered as always with a lighter touch, and a keen eye for life in Australian country towns FORBIDDEN FRUIT is number 3 in a series on the cozier, light-hearted, slightly madcap and extremely humorous side. Definitely one that fans of that style of crime fiction should be clamouring to read, and most definitely something that Australian readers should be seeking out.

The last thing Nell Forrest expected when she tried to plant a tree was to unearth the skeletal remains of a former resident. Now her new backyard is swarming with police, there’s a television news crew camped next door, and once again she is smack in the middle of a murder investigation. And the timing is dreadful. Two of Nell’s daughters are about to give birth and she is surrounded by new in-laws with agendas of their own.

Blurb from the book:

Corinna Chapman, owner of Earthly Delights, detests Christmas. The shoppers are frantic and the heat oppressive. Neither of which this perfect size 20 with a genius for baking breads finds congenial. She's dreaming of quiet, air-conditioned comfort but instead finds herself dealing with a rose-loving donkey named Serena, a maniacal mother with staring eyes, a distracted assistant searching for the perfect muffin recipe, her friend the fearless witch Meroe, and the luscious Daniel with whom she'd like to spend a lot more time.

Corinna Chapman, owner of Earthly Delights, detests Christmas. The shoppers are frantic and the heat oppressive. Neither of which this perfect size 20 with a genius for baking breads finds congenial. She's dreaming of quiet, air-conditioned comfort but instead finds herself dealing with a rose-loving donkey named Serena, a maniacal mother with staring eyes, a distracted assistant searching for the perfect muffin recipe, her friend the fearless witch Meroe, and the luscious Daniel with whom she'd like to spend a lot more time.

Book Review:

FORBIDDEN FRUIT is the 5th book in the Corinna Chapman series by Australian author Kerry Greenwood (probably best known for her Phryne Fisher series). These books are set in modern day, inner Melbourne, are also on the cosier end of the scale. There are enough elements that coincide in both series to make fans of one feel somewhat comfortable in the other. Having never read any of the earlier books in this series, though, I can't comment on whether FORBIDDEN FRUIT is particularly representative, so I comment on it in isolation.

Corrina is a woman who has turned to baking after a life in the professions. Happier, content to the point of delirious, she is even able to just cope with the 4.00am starts. Living in very idealised circumstances, she has a happy home life in a building full of bohemian type characters, all living their own somewhat unorthodox lives. A content love life with Daniel, the main thing making Corinna grumpy in this book is Christmas.

Basically the story is that Daniel, the private investigator, is trying to track down two teenage runaways. Pregnant Brigid and the father of her baby Manny. Neither parents approve of either of the couple, Brigid has been locked up at home awaiting the birth of the unwanted (by her family) child, when she escapes and hits the streets with Manny. Daniel wants to find them because he's been asked by her parents, Corinna wants to find them because she's worried for Brigid's health. Along the way they are assisted / distracted by nuns who run a soup kitchen bus, freegans, maniacal mothers, thunderstorms and naked dancing witches, a donkey named Serena, glace cherries, the heat of a long hot Melbourne summer and meals which are described in somewhat minute detail.

Whilst it could be that all these distractions - and to be frank - meandering down a simply astounding number of irrelevant byways and cul-de-sacs is part of the charm of these books, in FORBIDDEN FRUIT, it just seemed to go on, and on, and on, and on. As did the none-too-subtle hinting about the joys of bohemia and alternative lifestyles and finding your inner whatevers. Not that I'm opposed to any of the elements that were raised by this book - but I just found that the constant bombardment and distractions ended up, well tedious. Every time the plot tried to progress a little, the reader was suddenly down one of those cul-de-sacs with a whinge about something (really, if you don't like Christmas decoration shopping then just don't do it!), or a lauding of "insert bandwagon here". Yes, I know these books are fictional and idealised, and maybe that's part of the problem - I prefer idealised fiction that "shows" rather than "crows".

There are some glimpses of parallels between elements of these books and the Phyrne Fisher series that were interesting - a similar sort of independent, feisty female character with an abandonment of normal conventions. But in FORBIDDEN FRUIT everything just seemed a little too over the top, a little too arch, a little too preachy for comfort. Perhaps this is a book for fans of the series, perhaps there's something about not reading the earlier books that means I missed the point.